Grace Casper is the daughter of Deb and Steve Nelson. She lived outside of Madison with her two younger siblings, Audrey Nelson and Lydia Nelson. She is a graduated class of 2020, and is currently a second year law student at USD. Her time in high school was spent taking all the classes she could. When asked about her high school career impacting her current career, she said “having difficult classes and teachers who believed in me made me believe that I can do challenging things, and helped me get to where I am now.” The skill that has proven most useful for her that she learned from high school is her writing abilities, clearly stating “the ability to write and clearly articulate yourself will get you further than any other skill.” She has a lot to say about the writing department of our school, she noted that she “couldn’t say enough good things about the writing department at Madison” Some of the specific people she credits with helping her include Mrs. Gonyo and Ms. Nills (English) , Mr. Cordts (History), and she noted “Calculus was awesome, and Physics with Mr. Hodgen was very fun.”
Currently Mrs. Casper attends USD law school where she is involved in many organizations. A few include the Christian Legal Society (of which she is the president), the Federalist Society, National Blackstone Legal Fellow, and a Staff Writer for the South Dakota Law Review. (a Staff Writer writes publishable academic educational articles in the law review academic journal.) When asked to talk about a day in her life she jokingly said “I wish I was a morning person so I could say that.” Instead she “wakes up in the morning, makes and consumes an entire pot of coffee,” then she reads, prepares for meetings, and heads to class at 10:00 or 11:00 am, she goes to the gym and then studies until midnight. When asked about what area of the law she favors she commented, “I love every area of the law,” however she prefers family law and estate planning because “you can work with and help people one on one.”
In fact Mrs. Casper’s passion for the law stems from her hope to help people. I asked her why she decided to pursue law, at first she plainly responded “because I’m interested in the material,” however she followed up with a touching insight: she went to law school because lawyers help people in ways they need help, “people interact with the law on some of the worst days of their lives and being with them in that, with ways to help them, advocate for them, and make a difference, is a worthwhile and fulfilling career.” She left me with this final statement, “Work hard, and know why you are studying. Faith is the foundation of everything, because you know that everything is temporary, so you need to be the best you can be. Commit yourself to excellence.”